The Humpback of Notre Stradbroke
by mishasan7
Summary: I found a news article about a real life whale rescue off the Gold Coast a couple of years ago, by an older gentleman by the name of Peter Brown. I got to thinking; what if, unbeknownst to us, he got a little help? I haven't written fiction in years so thought I'd just have a crack at it. I stayed as close as I could to the characters from Season 1 of the show - enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

On a crystal clear morning in late winter the sun rose slowly over the Pacific, reflecting golden light across the waves and turning a few scattered clouds on the horizon shades of rosy pink. Beneath the waves just off the coast of North Stradbroke Island sped five mysterious shapes, crisscrossing each other playfully and leaving trails of bubbles in their wake. Four orange tails and one blue one churned the water, heading north ; it was the Mako pod, out for an early morning swim.

Almost every day Zac, Lyla, Nixie and Sirena explored the waters north and south of Mako Island, and they sometimes coaxed Rita to join them as well. She had been isolated from her own kind for so long that she had become a bit of a loner – like Lyla had been, before she'd discovered the joys of friendship. Rita had initially wanted nothing to do with the three exiled Mako mermaids, but as they all raced each other up the coast she had to admit to herself she was glad the three of them – now four, with Zac - had come into her life. They could be a whole lot of trouble, but also a whole lot of fun.

Her train of thought was derailed by having to dodge around Zac, who'd pulled up so suddenly his tail touched the back of his head. Everyone peered past him to see why he'd stopped. Large floating barrels were anchored to the sea floor by a thick cable, and an attached chain held a large hook. They all surfaced, and Lyla looked at Rita. "I've seen those before – what are they?" she asked.

"It's a drum line." explained Rita. "It lures tiger sharks, bull sharks and white pointers away from the beaches at Straddie. They've got quite a few of them along this coast." She shivered slightly. "One day, hopefully, we can all share the oceans peacefully."

Zac nodded, his curly black hair dripping. "Yeah. Back when I surfed I was all for these keeping the beaches safe. Now, though…" he frowned. "I wish there was another way."

Nixie scoffed, "How do they expect to catch a shark with an empty hook? It's a bit insulting; sharks aren't _that_ dumb."

"Looks like dolphins have stolen the bait again." Rita smiled ruefully. "I wish they wouldn't, they can get caught as well."

Sirena added, "There's a shark net just over there too. I _really_ don't like them – they're hard to see, even for us, and turtles and dolphins need rescuing from them all the time. They give me the creeps."

"Yes, let's go out a bit further; we won't stick around here." They dived again, and raced through the clear blue water until they were a safe distance away.

"How about a little friendly competition?" suggested Lyla. "Loser shouts everyone dinner tonight."

"All right, you're on!" Zac dived down about 20 metres and they could see his dark shape pause near the sandy bottom. Then with a few sweeps of his powerful tail he rocketed upwards, exploding almost vertically out of the water. He soared several metres into the air, tucked his head in and somersaulted, pinwheeling like a dolphin. "Woohoooo!" Suddenly he found himself being pelted with water bombs gleefully flung by Lyla, Nixie and Sirena. "Wh - ? _Hey_!" Caught by surprise, he over-rotated and cannonballed back into the water, landing flat on his back with a massive splash. "GIRLS!" exclaimed Rita, trying unsuccessfully not to smile. The three younger mermaids laughed uproariously. Zac popped back up, grinning.

"Nice landing fishboy!" called Lyla, giggling.

"Yeah, really graceful!" chimed in Nixie.

Zac laughed with them. "Thanks, I thought so too! You should've seen the faceplant I did the first time I tried that."

Zac had another go – without interference this time – and hit the water flukes first, to applause from his four mermaid spectators. Then they had their turns; Lyla flipped just as high as Zac had, much to his chagrin. Rita and Sirena's leaps were slightly lower but their re-entries considerably more adept, barely making a splash. Nixie, however, performed a spectacularly acrobatic cartwheel high in the air before diving back in, resurfacing in almost the same spot. "Winner! I rule!" she crowed. "I think I fancy lobster tonight thanks Zac!"

Zac was hugely impressed. "How did you DO that?"

Nixie smirked. "You should come hang out with the Moreton Bay bottlenoses sometime. They love showing off for the tourists, and they'll teach you a thing or two!"

Suddenly there came a gentle lowing sound, and a strange vibration in the water. They looked around in delighted surprise as a young humpback whale swam by, blasting spray high into the air through his blowhole.

"Awesome!" breathed Zac. "He's come even closer than the one you showed me, Lyla!"

Sirena looked at the older mermaid. "Rita – you can speak humpback can't you?"

"Yes, I'm quite fluent in whale," Rita answered, Zac gaping at her in awe. She shot him a mischievous sideways glance then bellowed "MMOOWEEE NEEEED TO FIIINNND SOOMME NNLOOOBSTEEER. CANN YOOOU NNNGIIIVE UZZZZ DIREEECTIONSS?"

Zac stared at her for a moment then dissolved into fits of helpless laughter. The last thing he'd expected was for Principal Santos to do an impression of Dory from _Finding Nemo_! Rita joined in laughing, but Lyla, Sirena and Nixie just looked at each other, mystified. "That's not whale, is it?"

When they finally stopped laughing, Zac said "Rita, ask Quasimodo if he wants to have a go too."

"Why 'Quasimodo'?" Rita asked.

You know, the humpback? In that old story?"

"I think you mean _hunch_back."

"Oh. Yeah. Right. I knew that." Zac coughed.

Rita slipped underwater, the others joining her. They listened to Rita and the whale calling to each other; first a series of deep lowing sounds, then a kind of distant-sounding whistling; it was haunting and beautiful, with notes that travelled from low to high and back again. Rita grinned and nodded at the others and they returned to the surface. "He's really keen!" she translated. "He's trying to catch up with his pod and hasn't had company for a while, so he's really excited to – oh, there he goes!"

Quasimodo powered away from them at full speed, close to and parallel to the surface. Suddenly he jerked upwards, clearing the water at an angle of about 30 degrees, and despite his enormous mass he soared so high into the air only the end of his tail remained in the water. He rotated slightly, then all of his 20-plus tonnes crashed down on his back, sending up a massive plume of water and spray. The pod cheered and clapped their appreciation, but it wasn't over yet! Quasimodo thrust with his massive tail and again soared into the air, slightly lower than the first time but still clearing the water for over half his body length. He splashed down again, churning the water to foam and choppy waves, then drove himself into the air again. And again! In an impressive series of breaches, which got gradually smaller as he tired, he put so much distance between himself and the pod they had to hurriedly swim to catch up. "Looks like he's going for gold Nixie!" Zac chuckled. "Maybe he wants your lobster."

They'd just counted his twenty-third breach when they realised where he was going.

"Oh NO!" said Sirena urgently. "Look, he's heading right for the barrel! Rita, tell him to stop!" Rita ducked underwater to call a warning, but it was too late. The young whale breached almost on top of the barrel, then splashed down into the shark net and instantly became ensnared. He tried to breach again, but was pulled up short by the drum line. He then tried to dive away from it, but he couldn't go anywhere. He thrashed around for several moments, but soon stopped; he was stuck.

Nixie groaned. "Why didn't he watch where he was going?"

"We have to help him," Lyla interjected. "Let's zap the net - he'll be out in no time." The younger pod members went to move toward the whale.

"Wait just a minute!" said Rita. "We can't use our powers on it; what will landpeople think when they come to check it?" She looked at each of them. "They'll know it wasn't a shark… _or_ a whale. It'll draw attention."

"Yeah, you're right," said Zac. "We don't have a knife or anything though - I guess we'll just have to untangle him." Everyone swam quickly to the whale, Rita reassuring him with a few low resonant grunts and barks. They inspected the ropes that coiled around him and tried to figure out the best place to start. One typically long pectoral fin was free but the other was bound to his side by the net. The biggest tangle was between his dorsal fin and his flukes; the net was knotted together with ropes, buoys and lengths of chain, all of which had coiled around his body. Sirena and Nixie set to work on his right pectoral fin, Lyla and Zac swam down to tackle his tail, and Rita stayed near his knobby head, talking to him and getting regularly doused in spray when he blasted air from his blowhole.

It soon became apparent it wasn't going to be an easy job. "Don't be so impatient, stop fidgeting would you?!" pleaded Nixie, tugging at a twist of netting while Quasimodo's fin tried to wave back and forth. "I really wish I could speak whale… NNNHEEELLLLOOO! PLEEEAASE STAAHHP! _Choh!_ Rita _it's not working_!" Nixie complained. Rita gave a snort of laughter, then coughed to cover it up. Down below, Lyla and Zac were making even less progress with their section, and were becoming quite frustrated. The whale seemed to sense this and in turn became more and more agitated.

Suddenly Sirena gasped. She ducked underwater and whistled loudly in dolphin to get the others' attention. When they hurriedly popped up she gestured in the direction of Point Lookout. "There's a boat coming!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys! Here's the concluding chapter. Thank you for reading and your lovely comments - I appreciate it. (The country flags mentioned in the first paragraph are a nod to all of you; the countries of my readers! :)**

The whale was suddenly alone in the water.

The mast of a sailing yacht, strung with small brightly coloured flags from a hundred different nations glided slowly into view over the waves; mementos from the U.S., the U.K., Hungary, Romania, South Africa, Germany, Portugal, China, Hong Kong, Iceland, New Zealand. The Australian Red Ensign fluttered proudly from the stern and a small dinghy bobbed along behind.

An elderly man's voice floated across the water. "I'm sure I saw a spout somewhere over here…" the young humpback chose that exact moment to blow, and a tall column of spray blasted into the air. The man whooped. "Thar she blows!"

Then came a woman's voice. "Oh the poor thing – look Pete, it's caught in one of those bloody shark nets!"

Unseen, the pod surfaced and peeked out from beneath the bow at the land people on board. A man and a woman, both in their mid-sixties but tanned and fit-looking, balanced easily on the rolling deck. Moving with the relaxed confidence of lifelong boaties they hove to at a safe distance, then looked over at Quasimodo with an air of concern. He'd started thrashing again.

The man's voice came again. "Yeah, it looks like he's a bit caught up there Jo. Better get on the blower and call the cavalry." He was on the ship to shore radio for several minutes while the woman, Jo, kept watch. While she watched the whale she had the sudden feeling she herself was being watched; the back of her neck prickled. She turned, spooked, towards the bow, but of course there was nothing there. She chided herself: she was being silly. Maybe it's just the whale who's watching me, she thought. They are very intelligent and curious after all.

The man – Pete – finished the call and made some adjustments to the yacht's drift. "They said it could take an hour for them to get here love – fancy a cuppa while we wait?" The woman's reply was lost as the couple disappeared belowdecks.

The pod, still hidden, watched them disappear and breathed a sigh of relief; they were nervous about staying by the boat but not wanting to leave until they could help their new friend.

"He probably called someone at SeaWorld. " Zac whispered to the girls. "They do heaps of wildlife rescues."

Lyla whispered in frustration, "Why don't they _go_? We can't pull off the net and stay invisible at the same time!"

Rita answered reasonably, "I suppose they want to make sure the whale is okay, just like we do. It doesn't matter who rescues him."

Half an hour later, rescue still hadn't arrived and Zac and the mermaids were getting worried as Quasimodo's movements were becoming more and more desperate. Each breath he took made a rattling, wheezing sound and he seemed to be finding it harder to surface.

Pete sounded worried. "Look at him, he can barely keep his blowhole out the water. God knows how long he's been here for already, fighting to breathe – they only check the nets every so often. The poor blighter might not last another couple of hours." The elderly man took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly, seemingly deep in thought. He appeared to reach a decision.

"Grab the tiller for me would you, love?"

He disappeared through the hatch into the galley. A short time later he reappeared with a sturdy kitchen knife.

His wife gave him a look. "And just what do you think you're doing with that?"

"Don't stress Jo, I'm just having a squiz." Pete replied, as offhandedly as he could manage.

Jo wasn't buying it. "_Sure_ you're just going to look. With my good knife and all."

In reply he fiddled with his hearing aid and moved to the stern. He pulled the dinghy over, climbed in and rowed briskly out to the struggling whale as the watching merfolk bumped into each other in their haste to find a safe place to watch from.

Pete steered the dinghy straight for the whale. Nixie's jaw dropped. "_What_ does he think he's doing?"

Zac made a soft sound of approval. "DUDE! I think he's going to cut off the net!"

Sirena whispered, "Is he going to be okay? I can never tell how old landpeople are but - he has white hair – he must be reeeally old!"

Lyla looked at Rita, her blue eyes worried. "Could you tell Quasimodo to hold still? And that the man's trying to help him?"

Rita put one ear underwater and listened intently for a moment. Then she smiled. "He already knows."

Sure enough, as the dinghy neared the humpback, he quietened, and Pete was able to lean over and saw carefully at the ropes that crisscrossed Quasimodo's back. He cut as many as he could reach, then backed away; the humpback could move much more freely, but it became obvious he was still anchored to the drum line. Peter returned to the yacht and disappeared belowdecks, re-emerging moments later carrying goggles and flippers.

His wife went over to him. "Pete, please be careful."

Pete gave her a hug. "I will Jo, no worries. I think the old boy's all tuckered out anyway. I'll be back in a jiff."

Jo gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "For luck. Because I really don't fancy sailing this thing home all by myself. Plus it's your turn to cook tea tonight!" They laughed together, then Jo took the tiller. Pete pulled on his swimming gear and jumped overboard.

The pod vanished the second he entered the water. They watched in silent admiration as he swam over to Quasimodo and laboriously hacked away at the knot of ropes and netting that held him. It took quite a while, as Jo's good knife seemed to be dulling on the tough, barnacled rope, but eventually the tangles fell away. That's when it became clear that the chains of the drum line were still wrapped tightly around the humpback's tail. Pete turned and kicked back to the yacht, climbing wearily aboard. His wife put a consoling arm around him. "Ah Jo, I couldn't get the last bit. What I wouldn't give for some boltcutters!" he pounded the rail in frustration.

The pod reappeared under the bow, whispering excitedly. "He's nearly done it!" Zac looked hopefully at Rita. "We haven't got boltcutters, but..." He trailed off.

"He's sliced the rope and net to pieces," Rita murmured thoughtfully. "I don't think they'll be looking too closely at it now. Let's finish the job."

They dived deep to remain safely out of sight, then stayed close to Quasimodo's large body so he shielded them from view. They gathered in a semicircle, looked at each other and nodded. They focused their powers on one link of the chain, and after a few seconds it suddenly sheared itself in two with an audible _plink. _The whale came to life, shaking himself free and slowly swimming away.

Lyla, Nixie, Sirena, Zac and Rita all grinned at each other and tagged along, gliding along beneath him like a family of remoras.

The young whale seemed quite exhausted by his ordeal, but he rolled onto his side, lifted his 3 metre long pectoral fin straight up into the air, then brought it down onto the surface of the water with a resounding _crack_. He did this several times, each slap loud as a gunshot, before righting himself and continuing on his way, calling his thanks to the pod as well.

Up on the boat, Pete and Jo were ecstatic, cheering madly and hugging each other in excitement. Another boat, sporting the SeaWorld logo on the hull, then arrived, and after following the whale for a while to check on him, circled back to give the elderly couple a happy thumbs up before turning back for the coast. After the second boat left, the pod surfaced at a safe distance behind the yacht, laughing and talking excitedly.

"I can't believe he did that!" exclaimed Nixie. "I'd never have thought land people would go to so much trouble to help a _whale_! He could've been hurt or something!"

Zac got a little defensive at that. "Are you kidding?! Of course we would! I mean," he corrected sheepishly, "of course _they_ would! Whenever there's whales stranded on a beach loads of people turn up with buckets and tractors and boats to keep them wet and get them back in the water. Dolphins too!"

Sirena added crossly, "And Nixie, have you forgotten how David tried to stop his brother from chasing you with his boat that time? Lots of land people care about the ocean, just like us!" Nixie _had_ forgotten, and had the grace to look abashed. Perhaps land people weren't so bad after all, she thought, if they were willing to help sea creatures in trouble.

Rita understood how she was feeling - she remembered how scared she'd been when she'd first ventured onto land – all the stories she'd heard about the cruelty of land people and the horrible things they did to the oceans...! She'd since learned that most people weren't like that at all; if something bad was happening they tried to stop it. They _are_ just like us, she'd realised. Well, in some ways, at least.

The pod turned back to the yacht, now disappearing into the distance, the man and his wife still with their arms around each other. They all made a mental note of the name on the stern - Torokina II.

From that day on the Torokina II was an extremely lucky boat. Pete and Jo were amazed; they put it down to karma, which they hadn't ever believed in before but after the thing with the whale they felt they didn't really have a choice. You see, every time they cast a line –with or without bait – they caught a fish. Usually a nice mackerel or tuna, but occasionally, (when the pod were feeling particularly generous), even a gorgeous black kingfish. And when they sailed near Mako Island even stranger things happened; one time Pete was quietly reading the paper when a large snapper suddenly flew over the railing and landed in his lap.


End file.
